We just finished up our own projections for the 2011 NFL Draft. Now it is time for you to tell us what you thought. Who was drafted too high? Who fell more than expected? Give us a grade. Comment on the picks. Were there surprises?
As Iook at it, there are three very clear things that would change. First of all, Cam Newton is not going to fall to number 12. We may all think he shouldn't be picked high, but he will be.
Secondly, since we started the draft, Nick Fairley's stock has fallen. He definitely will not be number one overall. He will likely still be a top 10 players, but not number one.
Likewise, Da'Quan Bowers is likely to fall much further than number six. Concerns about his knee being healthy enough to play more than a few years in the league will cause him to fall.
In our projections, only Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton were the quarterbacks drafted in the first round. When the real draft happens, I would not be surprised to see as many as four be taken on Thursday.
Now it is your turn. Who go the best pick for their team's needs? How would you grade the writers on the whole of the round?
Here is how the writers' draft panned out:
Draft Pick Team Writer GM Pick 1 Carolina Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn 2 Denver Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU 3 Buffalo Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri 4 Cincinnati A.J. Green , WR, Georgia 5 Arizona Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M 6 Cleveland Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson 7 San Francisco Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska 8 Tennesee Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama 9 Dallas Robert Quinn, DE, UNC 10 Washington Julio Jones, WR, Alabama 11 Houston JJ Watts, DE, Wisconsin 12 Minnesota Cam Newton, QB, Auburn 13 Detroit Tyron Smith, OT, USC 14 St. Louis Aldon Smith, DE, Missouri 15 Miami Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama 16 Jacksonville Jimmy Smith, CB, Colorado 17 New England Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue 18 San Diego Muhammad Wilkerson, DT, Temple 19 NY Giants Nate Solder, OT, Colorado 20 Tampa Bay Anthony Castonzo, OT, Boston College 21 Kansas City Gabe Carimi, OT, Wisconsin 22 Indianapolis Mike Pouncey, C, Florida 23 Philadelphia Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa 24 New Orleans Cameron Jordan, DE, California 25 Seattle Derek Sherrod, OT, Mississippi State 26 Baltimore Rahim Moore, FS, UCLA 27 Atlanta Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland 28 New England Ben Ijalana, OT, Villanova 29 Chicago Marcus Cannon, OT/OG, TCU 30 NY Jets Akeem Ayers, OLB, UCLA 31 Pittsburgh Corey Liuget, DT, Illinois 32 Green Bay Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State